I recorded a short video a couple of days ago that I posted on my facebook profile to share mostly with my friends and family. The feedback from the post has been heartwarming. I am grateful for the support I have from people. The purpose was to thank Oprah for being the catalyst for me breaking the silence around my childhood sexual abuse. As a direct result of seeing Angela Shelton on her show in 2003, I co-founded a non-profit with my sister in Iceland to educate adults in Iceland about child sexual abuse and prevention.
Oprah has a link on her web site where she asks if a guest on her show has impacted our life’s and I thought I would tell her how it impacted me and my life. I mean, Oprah probably does not even view all the millions of emails and videos that get sent to her, but I believe in saying thank you and telling people that inspire you, when they do!
I will add the video here, but the gist of it was to summaries what blátt áfram does in Iceland to educate Icelanders how to prevent child sexual abuse and as a result teenagers are coming forward, children are disclosing abuse and adults are doing a better job of protecting their children. We also have actively used the media every year to create awareness. It is actually pretty simple to prevent it once people know what to do, once you are open and willing to accept the facts that 1 out of every 4 girls and 1 out of every 6 boys are abused before they thy turn 18. It is as simple as starting to talk about it, what it is, how it looks and feels like, and what to do if one suspects a child is being abused. Of course if it was that simple more people would be putting policies in place and actively training any adult that works with children about prevention, but the greatest obstacle is denial! People don´t know that they don´t know! Are you willing to consider that you don´t know how to protect your child from sexual abuse? The good news is that you can do something about it. It is up to you! If you would like to know what to do, please send me a note svavabb@gmail.com or look up a class in Iceland and www.blattafram.is or in CA at www.taalk.org
Thank you Oprah! Video
Thank you for your partnership in prevention!
